In the last few days, the world is watching Turkey erupt in protest after Turkish authorities responded with shocking violence to peaceful protesters trying to save a small park in central Istanbul. When the protests began five days ago on Tuesday, May 28, protesters, in a move that is somewhat reminiscent of Occupy Wall Street’s occupation of Zuccotti Park, occupied Gezi Park in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district.

Amnesty International issued a statement quoting John Dalhuisen, Director of Europe and Central Asia Programme at Amnesty International:

“The use of tear gas against peaceful protestors and in confined spaces where it may constitute a serious danger to health is unacceptable, breaches international human rights standards and must be stopped immediately.”

“The Turkish authorities must order police to halt any excessive use of force and urgently investigate all reports of abuse. They have a duty to ensure that people can exercise their right to free expression and assembly.”

Çapuling

Chapulling (Turkish: çapuling) is a neologism originating in the 2013 protests in Turkey, coined from Prime Minister Erdoğan's use of the term çapulcu (roughly translated to "looters") to describe the protestors.

The protests started with the occupation of the Istanbul Gezi Park by a small group protesting against the demolition of a symbolic park in the center of the City, finally it became a mass demonstration with a general strike on June 17th 2013.

The word Çapuling quickly caught on, adopted by the demonstrators and online activists, and became a viral video.

Many took the concept further by integrating the unique nature of the demonstrations and defined it as "to act towards taking the democracy of a nation to the next step by reminding governments of their reason for existence in a peaceful and humorous manner."

The Çapuling section of InEnArt describes and reflects the visual culture, humor and irony of the peaceful protestors (the Çapulcu) as it developed in many forms in Turkey during 2013.

The authors of InEnArt will publish regular one phenomen of the Çapuling Culture: e.g. the Duran Adam (Standing Man), the penguin, gas festival, the woman in red...

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